February 18, 2024
Montreal defeats league leaders Minnesota in front of sold out crowd
Montreal and Minnesota may be just six teams currently in the PWHL, but the fledgling league is causing quite a stir around the hockey world of late. Hot off a record setting crowd of 19,285 at Scotiabank Arena in a shutout loss away to Toronto, Montreal returned home to a old-out crowd of 10,172 at Place Bell as the leagues top two teams went head to head Sunday afternoon.
Attendances around the league have been steadily increasing as the season wears on, and it seems that each match draws a greater number of people than the previous match up as the PWHL; the Professional Women’s Hockey League grows beyond expectations. With today’s capacity crowd, Montreal’s home games can only grow should they have the chance to play at the Bell Center, home to the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens.
See Also: Montreal defeats Ottawa in overtime, set attendance record
Claire Dalton opened the scoring on the power play 3:41 into the first period. Montreal has struggled all season long on the power play, and this marked just their second goal with a player advantage this season, and now hold a record of two goals on twenty-four attempts. Despite the lackluster power play, Montreal remains atop the standings and in a locked-horn battle with Minnesota for top seed.
Minnesota tied the game at the 17:42 mark of the first period, when Coyne Schofield fired a back hand shot over the shoulder of Montreal goaltender Elaine Chuli. From that point on, both teams settled into solid defensive strategies and offensive changes grew slimmer and slimmer. Minnesota goalie Maddie Rooney stopped eighteen of Montreal’s twenty shots.
At 14:06 of the second period, Sarah Lefort scored her first on the season off a play that she had set up. Moments earlier, she had set up team mate Madison Bizal who riffled a one-timer that was saved by Rooney, but the rebound fell to Lefort who buried her chance into the open net, giving Montreal the one-goal lead that would prove to be enough for the win as Montreal edged Minnesota.
Montreal currently boasts not one, but two of the hottest goal tenders in the league. One of whom, Elaine Chuli is the only goalie yet to lose a game in the PWHL, as she earned for fourth win on the season as Montreal beats top ranked Minnesota by a solitary goal today. Chuli turned away 21 of Minnesota’s 22 shots and looked comfortable doing so.
“Chuli did what she needed to do again tonight,” said Montreal head coach Kori Cheverie . “When you have a goalie duo like that, I think It’s pretty scary for the other teams.”
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While the crowd was almost double that of the sold out Place Bell, it was so loud in the Laval arena that Minnesota thought that the crowd noise was actually the final horn and stopped playing with four seconds left to go in regulation. Perhaps it is time to check for availability over at Bell Center for PWHL action come play-off time. Montreal, after all, is a hockey town that deserves play-off hockey.
Montreal is in action next on Wednesday February 21st in an away match against New York, while their next home game takes place February 28th at the Verdun Auditorium when Ottawa comes to town.
